Australia will keep door open if Cummins can be ready for T20 World Cup Super Eights

Australia have kept the door open for carrying Pat Cummins through the early stages of the T20 World Cup if it allows him to play a role later in the tournament, in a similar manner to how they kept an injured Travis Head part of the 2023 ODI World Cup, which enabled him to have a decisive impact.

Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Tim David were all included in Australia's squad for next month's T20 World Cup provided they prove their fitness. Cummins has been rested since his one-off Ashes appearance in Adelaide having overcome a lumbar stress injury in his back; Hazlewood is recovering from an Achilles injury; David picked up a hamstring problem which has ended his BBL.

George Bailey, the chair of selectors, was confident that Hazlewood and David would be fit for the World Cup and was hopeful that a further scan for Cummins at the end of January, which would show the effects of his Ashes workload, would provide good news.

"I don't think they [Cummins and Hazlewood] will be available for the Pakistan series [three T20Is in January], but I think both should be online [for the World Cup]," Bailey told reporters at the SCG. "Patty might be a bit later, that might be a similar sort of situation to Travis Head in the 50-over World Cup, where there's an entry point at some point. Hopefully we can manage and carry a squad until that point. I think Hoff [Hazlewood] should be right by the start, think Tim David should be right by the start."

Bailey conceded that things would need to fall into place for Cummins to be given the early stages of the tournament to recover with, potentially, an eye on the Super Eights. Australia face Ireland, Oman, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in the first round with all their matches being staged in Sri Lanka, which could aid the cause.

"You might get pushed into a corner where you can't, and you might need to make adjustments in the squad," Bailey said. "We were close to that having to be the case with Travis. It's got a fit… but I guess the beauty is potentially Colombo and Kandy you might be in a position where you can set the team up in different ways.

"We've obviously got some good all-round skills there, some good spin options. There's different ways of structuring up the team where that might work out pretty naturally."

The spinners referenced by Bailey include left-armers Matt Kuhnemann and Cooper Connolly alongside the established due of Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell. Kuhnemann has yet to take a T20I wicket in four matches while Connolly, who provides another all-round option, has one. Connolly is currently impressing for Perth Scorchers in the BBL and was named despite not featuring in recent T20I series against South Africa, New Zealand and India.

"It's a nice skill set [left-arm spin] over there, and [there's] some flexibility of where he can bat," Bailey said. "So if you do want to throw that into the mix as a secondary spin option, [he] spins the ball the other way, if you're going to be using your offspin options.

"He's continued to grow. I think the exposure that he's had in international cricket's been excellent for him, and he's had some exposure in different roles as well. I just think every time he's done that, it hasn't always been good success, necessarily, but he's a good learner. Just loving seeing him get the opportunity to bat quite high for the Scorchers and also getting plenty of overs."

Bailey also cited the ability of both Connolly and Kuhnemann to bowl inside the powerplay. "[That] is something that we haven't traditionally done a lot of," Bailey said. "I think both those guys have got that skillset, so that allows you to create some space elsewhere to be able to line up certain bowlers and continue to keep Zamps in his space."

A trade-off the selectors have made, for now, is the absence of left-arm pace with Ben Dwarshuis not making the cut, as Xavier Bartlett took the last quick-bowling spot, although Bailey confirmed Dwarshuis would be "firmly in the mix" should either Cummins or Hazlewood not make it. With Mitchell Starc retired from T20Is and Spencer Johnson injured, Dwarshuis had provided the variety with good success against West Indies and New Zealand last year.

"It's great variety and it's different, so I think any time you can add that to your attack it's a nice point of difference," Bailey said. "But there still has to be a high skill level there that comes with it. I don't think you use it just because of the fact it's a variety, so it's a bit of a balance."

Bailey added that the squad for the Pakistan series, which leads into the World Cup, could involve some consideration of players involved in the BBL finals.